£1000 Challenge
Rover 216 Coupé
1993 ROVER 216 COUPÉ
THE STORY SO FAR Miles driven 314 Total mileage 96,799 What’s gone wrong Lumpy idle persists, but otherwise nothing
CHRIS HOPE ‘Delightfully straightforward to work on.’ Those were my exact words. And never I have spouted such utter drivel since.
Rover owners in the know must have been left scratching their heads by that statement in my last update. All I can say is it was wishful thinking – and resulted from me at that time having only done half a service on the car. For while the statement holds true for things like the plugs, leads and air filter, it certainly does not apply to changing the oil filter.
Just to clarify, the engine powering our Rover is not the turbocharged two-litre 16-valve T- Series, but rather the D- Series 1.6-litre – manufactured by Honda. The last Japanese engine I worked on was the 4A- GE in my old Toyota MR2 MkI, and in spite of its similarly revvy four-pot being located behind the seats, rather than ahead of them, there are certain similarities. The one that springs to mind here is the location of the spin-on oil filter – halfway up the side of the block and a nightmare to reach.
The main problem was not necessarily getting at the thing, but achieving a good grip on the filter
– it’s so deeply recessed that the oil filter wrench had to be positioned at an angle, otherwise it would foul on the surrounding ancillaries. But this meant it continually slipped due to an inadequate purchase on the housing.
Oh, and ‘spin-on’. There’s another misleading term; though this has nothing to do with Honda, but whoever fitted the old filter – if someone tightened this by hand, they must’ve been applying the vice-like grip of a champion bodybuilder.
Annoyingly, a similarly excessive amount of torque had been used on the sump plug. Honestly, there was a point while I was underneath the Rover where I thought I was more likely to rupture the sump than get the plug out in one piece. Mercifully, Holts Release Spray did its thing and the plug was removed – with the thread in the sump still intact.
After refilling with fresh 10w40 the thought that it would be at least another six months before I’d need to venture underneath the Tomcat to do it all again came as some relief.
The time spent was well worth it though if the black sludge I replaced is anything to go by. It wouldn’t have done the engine much good over any big distances on lubrication with the consistency of custard.
Indeed, as mentioned last time, the Tomcat can look forward to an epic journey which it’ll soon be undertaking as it ( hopefully) safely transports editor Simister, production editor Le Caplain and me to the Le Mans Classic (see our report on pages 18-22).
In order to get some miles under its boots, and ideally highlight any issues prior to our drive to the home of French motor sport, photographer Stuart Collins and I drove to the home of British motorsport to meet a genuine British Saloon Car Championship legend. The marvel in question was TOL 563 – the Austin Westminster A105 that inaugural BSCC champion, Jack Sears, drove to victory (as featured on pages 10-12 of this issue).
The Tomcat handled the journey with aplomb, its boot gobbling up all of Stuart’s camera equipment with plenty of room to spare. Nor did it stain the tarmac outside the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s clubhouse with any escaping fluids – which is always a bonus.
The only disappointment was that the oil change didn’t settle the Rover’s lumpy idle. Suspicions fall on a sticking throttle body, but as there’s now no time to properly investigate prior to our French trip, it’ll be something to follow up after what promises to be an unrivalled weekend of classic motor sport. Do keep your fingers crossed for us!